Goatheads for Jobst

[[email protected]]

Pat in TX wrote:
> Do you have something to add to the discussion or do you just run around
> calling people names?

Discussion?? Do you think this thread incorporates any discussion? Do
you think the OP wanted to have a discussion, or do you think he wanted
to be a nasty, insulting POS?

If you think this about goatheads, you must be new around here.

 

[[email protected]]

RonSonic wrote:
> On 2 Sep 2006 19:05:33 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>
> >
> >RonSonic wrote:
> >> On 2 Sep 2006 18:37:18 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
> >>
> >> >
> >> >RonSonic wrote:
> >> >> On 2 Sep 2006 13:55:10 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >Look! A smarmy toad has gone over the edge:
> >> >>
> >> >> You keep using that word, but I think it does not mean what you think it means.
> >> >>
> >> >> If you think "smarmy" has anything to do with Carl's writings here, you are
> >> >> missing the point on several levels.
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >Enlighten us all, please, Ron.
> >>
> >> Irony.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >IYO.
> >
> >And , perhaps, that word doesn't mean what you think it means.
> >
> >
> >IMO, Carlista is smarmy/passive agressive.
>
> It's Certain he's smarter than you.
>

I love it when a Cretin is Certain.

 

[Dan]

[email protected] wrote:
> Pat in TX wrote:
>> Do you have something to add to the discussion or do you just run around
>> calling people names?
>
> Discussion?? Do you think this thread incorporates any discussion? Do
> you think the OP wanted to have a discussion, or do you think he wanted
> to be a nasty, insulting POS?
>
> If you think this about goatheads, you must be new around here.
>

I am beginning to think that you are a goathead. So, maybe it is not
about goatheads but seems to authored by thorny goatheads.

 

[Tim McNamara]

In article <[email protected]>,
Dan <[email protected]> wrote:

> [email protected] wrote:
> > Pat in TX wrote:
> >> Do you have something to add to the discussion or do you just run
> >> around calling people names?
> >
> > Discussion?? Do you think this thread incorporates any discussion?
> > Do you think the OP wanted to have a discussion, or do you think he
> > wanted to be a nasty, insulting POS?
> >
> > If you think this about goatheads, you must be new around here.
>
> I am beginning to think that you are a goathead.

You're getting the picture. obs@ozark_etc. has decided to be a troll.

 

[Dan]

Tim McNamara wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Dan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>> Pat in TX wrote:
>>>> Do you have something to add to the discussion or do you just run
>>>> around calling people names?
>>> Discussion?? Do you think this thread incorporates any discussion?
>>> Do you think the OP wanted to have a discussion, or do you think he
>>> wanted to be a nasty, insulting POS?
>>>
>>> If you think this about goatheads, you must be new around here.
>> I am beginning to think that you are a goathead.
>
> You're getting the picture. obs@ozark_etc. has decided to be a troll.

He seems to have gone from merely tiresome to hateful and aggressive.
He has become "der Ziegekopf"

 

[[email protected]]

On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 13:56:37 -0600, [email protected] wrote:

[snip]

[Jobst dodged:]

>"So why do you ride there? It's like riding in a glass recycling
>yard."
>
>Er, I could claim that I ride there because some nitwit keeps
>insisting in the FAQ that I can avoid running over goathead thorns by
>simply keeping an eye out for them.
>
>Or I could point out that you seem to be admitting that there are
>miles and miles of bicycle paths and roads around Pueblo where your
>advice is ridiculous.
>
>But to answer the silly question about why I ride where I ride . . .
>
>Possibly because I live here? And that's a typical path? And it's the
>only game in town? A place obviously outside your experience, but
>which you keep insisting can't be different than what you're familiar
>with?
>
>Around Pueblo, goatheads are just part of life. Here, thorns on the
>paths and roads and sidewalks are no more unusual than getting rained
>on in other places.
>
>You'd be astonished if I insisted that there's no need for a rain
>coat, wouldn't you? (I was thirty before I bought a raincoat--it makes
>a nice windbreaker, but I don't get caught in the rain as often as
>most people get flat tires. It's a bit dry around here.)
>
>It astonishes people in Pueblo when I tell them that nitwits claim to
>be able to avoid goatheads by keeping an eye out for them--why not
>claim that you can ride between raindrops?
>
>Besides, I like seeing the deer, antelope, foxes, badgers, coyotes,
>beavers, muskrats, prairie dogs, porcupines, bobcats, snapping
>turtles, softshell turtles, box turtles, rattlesnakes, garter snakes,
>red racers, bullsnakes, flat-head snakes, tiger salamanders,
>tarantulas, bullfrogs, leopard frogs, toads, lizards, burrowing owls,
>great horned owls, flickers, woodpeckers, crows, bald eagles, hawks,
>great blue herons, inland cormorants, pelicans, quail, blue pinon-tree
>jays, and avocets.
>
>I don't pay much attention to the wide variety of ducks and geese or
>to the squirrels and rabbits.
>
>I prefer to avoid the skunks without inquiring whether they're
>striped, spotted, or hog-nosed, details that would be easier to notice
>than a goathead thorn lying on the road.
>
>I haven't seen black bears, mountain lions, elk, or moose on my ride.
>
>Before you announce with great authority that moose don't wander
>around on the Great Plains, I'll point out that the local paper
>reported a moose that not only wandered down from the mountains, but
>managed to elude the police and wildlife officers, who chased it
>around Pueblo West for hours.
>
>No one has ever reported an armadillo around Pueblo.

[snip]

An email expressed doubts about the likelihood of seeing the
creatures mentioned in the original post, so I took a camera
on my daily ride. It's not a zoo, but given enough time it lets me see
all the creatures that I mentioned.

Actually, my daily ride goes right past the City Zoo, from upper right
to lower left in this picture:

http://www.pueblozoo.org/map_pg.htm

But I thought that taking a picture of captive buffalo and kangaroos
would be stretching things a bit. There are no wild kangaroos in
Colorado, and the ranch with the buffalo herd is about ten miles west
of town.

Anyway, I took my camera, but didn't have the heart to take a picture
of a dead raccoon on the shoulder of the highway, a nocturnal animal
that I forgot to mention because I never see live ones.

And I didn't try to take a picture of a distant flock of turkey
vultures, another species that slipped my mind. They were on their way
home to the mammoth blue spruce two blocks from my house, but I
suspected that I'd come up with either an empty sky or fuzzy dots.

Sorry about the slow loading from filelodge, but it hosts pictures
full size for the necessary detail.

Here's one of the rarer beasts on my daily ride. I stopped to take a
picture for an unrelated legal matter, looked down, noticed it, and
turned it over so that its coat would show to advantage:

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room19/497501/162 not a goathead.jpg

I've had three flats from such creatures. Not quite poor Steve Irwin,
but similar.

Further on, this real creature caught my eye as I went by a
maintenance road that crosses the bicycle path:

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room19/497501/172 tarantula.jpg

They often cross the roads here at the end of summer.

After I took the picture above, I noticed this creature. Its almost
invisible little brother on the left will fit comfortably on my
thumbnail. View the picture at full size to appreciate the camouflage:

http://www.filelodge.com/files/room19/497501/170 two toads.jpg

On the path and roads that I ride, goatheads exhibit the same sort of
camouflage, not that such tiny thorns really need much camouflage to
escape your notice at 20 mph and faster. You could paint them orange
and still end up running over them if you took your eyes off the path
for an instant to sneeze, look at the speedometer, focus on an
approaching bicycle, or any of a dozen such distractions.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

 

[[email protected]]

On Sat, 2 Sep 2006 21:50:21 -0500, "Pat in TX" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Do you have something to add to the discussion or do you just run around
>calling people names?
>

Bill and Ozark are the insult tag-team in r.b.t.

All you have to remember is that insults show that the person using
them has no other support for their position (if they have one; for
those two, finding an opportunity to insult someone they've never met
is frequently enough).

 

[Jeff Starr]

On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:09:00 GMT, [email protected] wrote:

>On Sat, 2 Sep 2006 21:50:21 -0500, "Pat in TX" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>>Do you have something to add to the discussion or do you just run around
>>calling people names?
>>
>
>Bill and Ozark are the insult tag-team in r.b.t.
>
>All you have to remember is that insults show that the person using
>them has no other support for their position (if they have one; for
>those two, finding an opportunity to insult someone they've never met
>is frequently enough).

But you are above all that. You have never insulted anyone,
unprovoked, in a different thread, on a different topic, right?

How about wrong! You are no better than they are. At least they don't
snip posts to change meaning, and then attack that newly created
position.

You get my vote for #1 weasel on rec.bicycle.tech.


Life is Good!
Jeff

 

[[email protected]]

On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:51:46 GMT, Jeff Starr <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:09:00 GMT, [email protected] wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 2 Sep 2006 21:50:21 -0500, "Pat in TX" <[email protected]>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>Do you have something to add to the discussion or do you just run around
>>>calling people names?
>>>
>>
>>Bill and Ozark are the insult tag-team in r.b.t.
>>
>>All you have to remember is that insults show that the person using
>>them has no other support for their position (if they have one; for
>>those two, finding an opportunity to insult someone they've never met
>>is frequently enough).
>
>But you are above all that. You have never insulted anyone,
>unprovoked, in a different thread, on a different topic, right?
>

Cite, please.

 

[Bill Sornson]

Jeff Starr wrote:
> On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:09:00 GMT, [email protected] wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 2 Sep 2006 21:50:21 -0500, "Pat in TX" <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Do you have something to add to the discussion or do you just run
>>> around calling people names?
>>>
>>
>> Bill and Ozark are the insult tag-team in r.b.t.
>>
>> All you have to remember is that insults show that the person using
>> them has no other support for their position (if they have one; for
>> those two, finding an opportunity to insult someone they've never met
>> is frequently enough).
>
> But you are above all that. You have never insulted anyone,
> unprovoked, in a different thread, on a different topic, right?
>
> How about wrong! You are no better than they are. At least they don't
> snip posts to change meaning, and then attack that newly created
> position.
>
> You get my vote for #1 weasel on rec.bicycle.tech.

Funniest yet was flailor barging in to a SPAM thread just to feed his
obsession with me. I finally get a stalker, and it's a stanky ol' git Brit
and not a booby bimbo name Bambi. Sigh.

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote:

[snip]

New rear wheel last night with both tires pumped up, off for my daily
ride this evening.

About five miles out, a goathead flashes by on front tire, left side.

Brush it off, hope that the Slime sealant holds. At least it's not
spraying green gunk.

By the top of the ridge west of town, denial is useless. Stop, squeeze
soft front tire, shake head, begin repair. At least the rear tire is
okay.

Pry out nine goathead thorn tips from tire with paper clip carried for
that purpose. Several ooze green slime, but none hiss.

Pump up replacement Slime tube lightly to test it. Worthwhile
precaution, since there's a sudden hiss. Is that the pump head coming
off? No, it's a small seam split.

Pump up second replacement Slime tube. Admire how it holds its breath.
Pop it in the tire, pop the tire on the rim, pump it up. Very pleased
with Topeak Road Morph--little foot stand, t-handle, in-line air gauge,
goes to 120 psi almost easily compared to older, smaller Zefal
no-foot-stand, no t-handle pump. I like the pump-head lever better,
too.

Foolishly pick up and pack things, chasing valve caps rolling away in
wind.

Give rear tire a squeeze. While I was repairing the front, the rear was
quietly going soft. Curse, get paper clip out, squint at rear tire.
Remove three goathead thorn tips. One has a drop of dark green fluid,
but no bubble or hissing.

Attach pump, reads 30 psi, leak apparently plugged with Slime. Two more
spare tubes, both just ordinary tubes with long valves in case I meet
gorgeous women with flat tires and deep aero rims. Five Park glueless
patches, which worked nicely the only time that I used one.

No hissing. The ride home from the top of the ridge is usually 18
minutes or less. To hell with it, pump rear to 120 psi, no hissing,
ride home. Rear tire is still holding pressure when I reach my
driveway.

Walk dog. Dog stops, lifts front paw, looks at me expectantly. Remove
goathead from paw.

Later, go out to garage to replace tube. Good idea. Rear tire that held
for over six miles is now completely flat.

Dunk front tube in sink, inflate. That's the tube whose tire still had
nine thorn tips. Four punctures bubble merrily.

Dunk rear tube in sink, inflate. Only three thorn tips were dug out of
its tire, and it held air all the way home after I pumped it up. Three
punctures belch green Slime into the water.

It looks as if Sunday's heavy rain and hail washed a few extra
goatheads onto the path and road.

CF

 

[John Dacey]

"Di questo fondo non torno vivo alcun" - D. Alighieri

On 13 Sep 2006 21:40:46 -0700, a flickering [email protected]
wrote:

>New rear wheel last night with both tires pumped up, off for my daily
>ride this evening.
>
>About five miles out, a goathead flashes by on front tire, left side.

[Hellish scenario snipped}

>Walk dog. Dog stops, lifts front paw, looks at me expectantly. Remove
>goathead from paw.

>Dunk front tube in sink, inflate.

Please do not do this to the dog.

Have you considered moving?

-------------------------------
John Dacey
Business Cycles, Miami, Florida
Since 1983
Comprehensive catalogue of track equipment: online since 1996
http://www.businesscycles.com
-------------------------------

 

[[email protected]]

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:50:19 -0400, John Dacey
<[email protected]> wrote:

>"Di questo fondo non torno vivo alcun" - D. Alighieri
>
>On 13 Sep 2006 21:40:46 -0700, a flickering [email protected]
>wrote:
>
>>New rear wheel last night with both tires pumped up, off for my daily
>>ride this evening.
>>
>>About five miles out, a goathead flashes by on front tire, left side.
>
>[Hellish scenario snipped}
>
>>Walk dog. Dog stops, lifts front paw, looks at me expectantly. Remove
>>goathead from paw.
>
>>Dunk front tube in sink, inflate.
>
>Please do not do this to the dog.
>
>Have you considered moving?
>
>-------------------------------
>John Dacey
>Business Cycles, Miami, Florida
>Since 1983
>Comprehensive catalogue of track equipment: online since 1996
>http://www.businesscycles.com
>-------------------------------

Dear John,

The dog is water-tested twice a week and floats like a cork. A natural
internal version of Slime seals punctures from goatheads, cactus, and
porcupines. Rattlesnake punctures, the true snakebite, require more
drastic and expensive repairs.

As for moving, there's no reason--whatever we're used to seems normal.

Jobst probably considers earthquakes perfectly ordinary, and you may
think that a year without a hurricane is like a day without sunshine.

I probably wouldn't like all that rain in California and Florida.

Rain should come in infrequent cloudbursts, accompanied by lightning
and hail. Anything else just encourages excessive vegetation. If you
want trees and brush, you should have to find a creek.

My younger grew up dry in Pueblo and then lived for a few years in Los
Angeles, also dry.

A few weeks after she moved to Maryland with her family, she timidly
asked her neighbor about the missing sprinkler systems.

It seemed like such a nice neighborhood, she told me, but everyone
seemed to be too poor to afford a sprinkler system. With summer
coming, she didn't want her lawn to die.

Her neighbor proudly showed her a dusty, coiled-up hose, tucked away
in a garage and ready for what Maryland considers droughts.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

 

[[email protected]]

On 13 Sep 2006 21:40:46 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>[email protected] wrote:

[snip]

No question about today's flat rear tire--a goathead was still
sticking out of the sidewall, two inches from the valve, when I
stopped.

Dug three other thorn tips out, only a third as many as yesterday.

Fearlessly put my last new Slime tube into the tire without testing
and pumped it up with the Topeak Road Morph.

Eyed front tire suspiciously, but it politely held its breath.

Rode home, hung new tube that lasted 8 miles with others for patching.

Relying now on large supply of patched Slime tubes.

CF

 

[R Brickston]

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:34:53 -0600, [email protected] wrote:

>On 13 Sep 2006 21:40:46 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>>[email protected] wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>No question about today's flat rear tire--a goathead was still
>sticking out of the sidewall, two inches from the valve, when I
>stopped.
>
>Dug three other thorn tips out, only a third as many as yesterday.
>
>Fearlessly put my last new Slime tube into the tire without testing
>and pumped it up with the Topeak Road Morph.
>
>Eyed front tire suspiciously, but it politely held its breath.
>
>Rode home, hung new tube that lasted 8 miles with others for patching.
>
>Relying now on large supply of patched Slime tubes.
>
>CF

Whaaaat? No camera available?

 

[[email protected]]

On 13 Sep 2006 21:40:46 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

[snip]

Slow flat, rear tire, just before exiting City Park--lovely shady,
grassy spot to put in a new tube. For some reason, no women in
convertibles whistled at me as they passed in the fine summer weather.

Dug goathead out of edge of sidewall and tread. Need a new paperclip,
old one is twisted out of shape.

Surprised by previous Rema patch sticking to inside of tire. None of
the others have done this, but maybe I'm finding out why people powder
their tires.

That's my fourth goathead flat in seven days and 105 miles. The
temperature is dropping below forty at night now, so the fields of
ragweed are going brown for fall and dying what I hope is a slow,
horrible death as their vegetable sinuses clog up.

The goatheads, alas, stay just as sharp as they turn brown.

CF

 

[dvt]

[email protected] wrote:
> That's my fourth goathead flat in seven days and 105 miles.

You have recently posted many tales of woe regarding flats and tyres
that don't fit. If I were you, I'd toss that stockpile of tyres and try
out some new stuff. I'd be trying something like the Schwalbe tyres...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/2006/shows/eurobike06/?id=results/eurobike066
http://schwalbetires.com/node/142/ok
http://schwalbetires.com/marathon_xr_home

Granted, that's all ad copy and hype (especially that last link!), but
you have problems that they promise to solve. Why not give it a try?

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body
and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to
get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than
circumstances drive them to do. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and
novelist (1811-1896)

 

[RonSonic]

On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 17:20:41 -0600, [email protected] wrote:

>On 13 Sep 2006 21:40:46 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>Slow flat, rear tire, just before exiting City Park--lovely shady,
>grassy spot to put in a new tube. For some reason, no women in
>convertibles whistled at me as they passed in the fine summer weather.
>
>Dug goathead out of edge of sidewall and tread. Need a new paperclip,
>old one is twisted out of shape.
>
>Surprised by previous Rema patch sticking to inside of tire. None of
>the others have done this, but maybe I'm finding out why people powder
>their tires.
>
>That's my fourth goathead flat in seven days and 105 miles. The
>temperature is dropping below forty at night now, so the fields of
>ragweed are going brown for fall and dying what I hope is a slow,
>horrible death as their vegetable sinuses clog up.
>
>The goatheads, alas, stay just as sharp as they turn brown.

Uh huh. I see what you're up to. You're laying the groundwork to beat any drug
tests that show artificial attempts to elevate testosterone levels.
http://www.anyvitamins.com/tribulus-terrestris-info.htm

Ron

 

[dvt]

[email protected] wrote:
> As this picture indicates, you need a combined tire and tube thickness
> of about 4-5 mm to stop a determined goathead:
>
> http://www.filelodge.com/files/room19/497501/184a goathead through mrtuffy.jpg
> or http://tinyurl.com/jdqhc

Your needle looks a bit dull. But your point is well taken; the goathead
is sharp enough to penetrate most fabrics.

> Thicker tires and tubes should stop more goatheads, but I suspect that
> the increase in rolling resistance would also be impressive.
>
> When I gave up using thin Mr. Tuffy tire liners like the one in the
> picture, the speed increase on my daily ride was so marked that I
> never thought about going back.

Ay, there's the rub. I've never had occasion to try kevlar belts, Mr.
Tuffy, or any of that stuff. But I've had slow rolling tyres (ever
ridden a studded snow tyre?), and I know how it feels.

Still, if I had your track record of flats and misfit tyres, I'd be
willing to lose a minute or so per hour if the other problems improved.
As usual, YMMV.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body
and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to
get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than
circumstances drive them to do. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and
novelist (1811-1896)

 

[Dane Buson]

[email protected] wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:41:50 -0700, Dane Buson <[email protected]>
>>
>>So, why not use the Marathon Plus Tires? They are not just a *little*
>>bit thicker, they are much much thicker [1]. Granted, I don't think
>>their sidewall protection is as rugged, so you'd still get some flats.
>>But I imagine it would leaps and bounds better than a simple kevlar
>>belt.
>>
>>[1] As in, run-over-thumbtacks-with-impunity thicker.
>
> Dear Dane,
>
> As this picture indicates, you need a combined tire and tube thickness
> of about 4-5 mm to stop a determined goathead:

That should be fine then. The Smartguard strip is 5mm by itself, so
with a guess-timate of 3mm or so for the tread and casing, I'd say a
total of 8mm. If you had a thornproof tube, that would of course add an
additional layer of flat protection.

> http://www.filelodge.com/files/room19/497501/184a goathead through mrtuffy.jpg
> or http://tinyurl.com/jdqhc
>
> (It belatedly occured to me that the goathead's damned thorn was
> probably not blunted at all by going through the Mr. Tuffy plastic.
> Most likely, the thorn went through the plastic almost undamaged, then
> went effortlessly through the thin padding of a work mat, and broke
> its nose only when it hit the wooden bench underneath the mat.)
>
> Thicker tires and tubes should stop more goatheads, but I suspect that
> the increase in rolling resistance would also be impressive.

I haven't noticed much difference in rolling resistance myself, at least
my averages haven't suffered noticably. I also recently did a descent
down Hurricane Ridge where my highest previous speed was 43mph. With
the Schwalbe I hit 45 mph. I was wearing very similar clothing compared
to the previous time, so my aero drag was probably not too different.
Not a very controlled test, but it's all I have.

They are noticably heavier, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad
thing. If someone is really interested in the rolling resistance I
suppose they could do a drum test or a roll out.

--
Dane Buson - [email protected]
The reason that every major university maintains a department of
mathematics is that it's cheaper than institutionalizing all those people.